Fourteen years after completing her degree at the University of Ilorin, lawyer Rasheedat Adeshina was still fighting to obtain the certificate she had earned, following a prolonged dispute with the institution over her involvement in student activism.
In an interview by PUNCH, Adeshina disclosed that her confrontation with the university began during her undergraduate days when she served as Assistant Secretary-General of the Students’ Union and became involved in campaigns over the welfare and rights of students.
Adeshina, who studied Industrial Chemistry, said she completed her programme in 2000 but left the university without her certificate. She subsequently approached the Federal High Court in 2004, seeking an order compelling the institution to release her academic documents.
She won the case in 2005, but the university challenged the judgment. The appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in 2006, while the Supreme Court eventually affirmed her position in 2014.
She said the lengthy legal battle was particularly frustrating because the university never provided a convincing explanation for refusing to release her certificate.
“I had completed all my academic requirements. Even when the university called its witnesses, they could not point to any outstanding course or academic issue that prevented me from receiving my certificate,” she said.
Adeshina traced the dispute to her tenure as a student union leader in the late 1990s, when she advocated the return of students who had been suspended or expelled over their involvement in union activities.
She said she also resisted attempts to make student politics subject to ethnic considerations, insisting that the University of Ilorin, being a federal institution, should treat students equally.
“I told the vice-chancellor that even if we came from the same town, I could not support him if I believed he was doing something wrong. My position was based on principle,” she said.
The lawyer said the relationship between the administration and student activists deteriorated further following protests over conditions on campus and an increase in tuition fees.
According to her, some students were arrested after a protest that followed an incident on campus, while the Students’ Union was subsequently proscribed.
Adeshina said she escaped arrest after discovering that her name had been included on a charge sheet while security agents were searching for her.
“I had to disappear for a while. I was declared wanted throughout Kwara State, and I was placed on indefinite suspension,” she said.
Despite being hunted by the authorities, she said she continued to visit detained colleagues and secretly encouraged them while they were held at the Oke Kura Maximum Security Custodial Centre.
Adeshina said the ordeal did not make her abandon her education. Instead, in 2010, she decided to begin another academic journey by studying Law.
She obtained the required materials, prepared for her GCE and passed the examination in 2011. She then sat for UTME in 2012 and secured admission to study Law in 2013.
By the time she reached her second year as a law student, she said the Supreme Court had ordered UNILORIN to release her long-withheld certificate.
Adeshina eventually graduated from Law in 2019, proceeded to the Nigerian Law School and was called to the Bar in 2021.
She said the dispute had cost her valuable years and limited her career opportunities, particularly in a society where academic certificates are often required before employment opportunities can be accessed.
However, she said she remained determined to move forward and was supported throughout the ordeal by her partner.
The court awarded her N5m in damages, which she confirmed was paid by the university, but she said the compensation could not make up for the years lost in litigation.
“The money was paid, but how do you compensate someone for 10 years of their life? Those years are gone and nothing can bring them back,” she said.
Looking back at her eventual success, Adeshina said being called to the Nigerian Bar was more than a professional milestone because it proved that the efforts to frustrate her education had failed.
“I was happy because the person who said I would never graduate was still alive when the Supreme Court ordered the release of my certificate and when I was called to the Bar. They tried to make me a bad example, but they failed,” she said.
Adeshina, who has completed an LLM, is currently pursuing a PhD in Law.
Source: PUNCH
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